“I think the move to try and exclude Israel from business activity and the move to try and exclude Israel from engagement in international institutions and normal diplomatic activity is hugely counterproductive.”

5) …conclude that taking away any incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate and rewarding them for terrorism, intransigence and rejectionism would encourage them to the negotiating table?

Resolution 2334 makes no specific demand of the Palestinians, perhaps because they drafted much of the text, and tells them that all the land beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines belongs to them. As mentioned above, Resolution 2334 removes the need or incentive to negotiate on settlements that could have been part of land swaps and the Palestinians have interpreted the general condemnation of violence as referring only to Israel. When resolutions like this are passed, there is no need for Palestinian leaders to change their stance of refusing to enter negotiations or their incitement to violence. Indeed, Resolution 2334 has emboldened radicals – this is surely not a NZ foreign policy.

6) …label settlements a “flagrant violation under international law” and a major obstacle to the two-state solution?

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke out even though Australia does not not sit on the Security Council. New Zealand has chosen to stick by the decision to co-sponsor the resolution with Senegal, Malaysia, and Venezuela, signalling a clear shift in diplomatic alliances.

8) …start taking a more anti-Israel stance than Egypt, who withdrew from sponsoring the resolution?

10) …disregard the Jewish connection to, and legal rights to settle in, the West Bank, as enshrined in still valid legal instruments?

credit: Myths & Facts

By labelling the West Bank as occupied Palestinian territory, and settlements as illegal, Resolution 2334 denies Jewish historical connection and legal rights to settle in the West Bank and is inconsistent with the 1922 Mandate for Palestine and the UN Charter that adopted the Mandate, as well as the Oslo Accords. The government has never before delegitimised a Jewish presence in the Holy Land.

Thousands of New Zealanders have expressed their concerns to the Government regarding UN Resolution 2334, in letters, newspaper advertisements, petitions, protests, articles, and in comments on social media. And it is still news, and questions are still being asked in parliament, three months after it passed. The New Zealand public deserves the truth, and it deserves better.

Shalom.Kiwi’s contributors are a mix of Māori, Pakeha, Jewish and non-Jewish New Zealanders, who have all spent considerable time in Israel. http://shalom.kiwi/